Finding the best shares to buy today (or tomorrow) can feel somewhat daunting with so many options right at your fingertips. Investing information can be found just about everywhere you look, but figuring out the best shares to buy now (or later) takes patience and an eagle eye for detail.
The UK’s best stocks and shares to buy July 2024
To help speed up your research, we’ve done lots of the legwork for you. This table scours all corners of the internet for the best stocks to consider buying.
It looks at popular shares from leading investment apps, the stocks with the largest uptick in trading volume, and even the investments being discussed the most in places like Reddit and X (Twitter)
Rank | Code | Stock | Monthly change in trade volume | Latest close price | 3-month price chart |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | EVR | Evercore Partners | 246.65% | $249.13 | US stocks Finance stocks |
2 | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc Class A | 126.03% | $165.8556 | US stocks Tech stocks |
3 | BTI | British American Tobacco | 101.74% | $35.04 | US stocks |
4 | SOFI | SoFi Technologies | 93.51% | $7.305 | US stocks Finance stocks |
5 | MSFT | Microsoft | 91.88% | $421.135 | US stocks |
6 | 88E | 88 Energy | 88.12% | 0.1019p | UK stocks Penny stocks |
7 | PLTR | Palantir Technologies Inc | 86.90% | $26.85 | US stocks |
8 | PREM | Premier African Minerals | 86.29% | 0.066p | UK stocks Penny stocks |
9 | KO | The Coca-Cola Company | 73.66% | $66.5 | US stocks |
10 | AGL | ANGLE | 66.22% | 14.48p | UK stocks Penny stocks |
11 | INTC | Intel | 61.91% | $31.165 | US stocks |
12 | MCD | McDonald’s | 52.87% | $253.26 | US stocks |
13 | SONY | Sony Group | 49.11% | $87.13 | US stocks |
14 | PTON | Peloton Interactive | 46.32% | $3.506 | US stocks |
15 | O | Realty Income | 42.38% | $57.555 | US stocks |
16 | ARB | Argo Blockchain | 41.62% | 11.9206p | UK stocks Penny stocks Finance stocks |
17 | NKE | Nike | 36.37% | $72.18 | US stocks |
18 | RR | Rolls-Royce | 33.98% | 440.3p | UK stocks |
19 | AML | Aston Martin Lagonda Global | 33.90% | 163.738p | UK stocks |
20 | NFLX | Netflix | 28.47% | $637.01 | US stocks |
21 | COIN | Coinbase Global | 27.55% | $238.75 | US stocks Finance stocks |
22 | NVDA | NVIDIA | 26.75% | $112.8858 | US stocks |
23 | MO | Altria Group | 26.46% | $49.77 | US stocks |
24 | TLRY | Tilray | 14.88% | $1.7897 | US stocks |
25 | ADV | Advantage Solutions | 13.37% | $3.845 | US stocks |
26 | SPCE | Virgin Galactic | 8.37% | $6.84 | US stocks |
27 | TSLA | Tesla | 5.26% | $216.45 | US stocks |
28 | ASC | ASOS | 0.95% | 365.8p | UK stocks Tech stocks |
29 | VOD | Vodafone Group | 0.23% | 72.68p | UK stocks Penny stocks |
30 | VICI | VICI Properties | 3.95% | $30.72 | US stocks |
31 | SMDS | DS Smith | 16.82% | 461.4p | UK stocks |
32 | PSN | Parsons | 18.39% | $76.215 | US stocks Tech stocks |
33 | AAPL | Apple | 20.17% | $216.525 | US stocks |
34 | TEF | Telefonica SA ADR | 25.22% | $4.48 | US stocks |
35 | BARC | Barclays | 27.50% | 230.2779p | UK stocks |
36 | LLOY | Lloyds Banking Group | 27.64% | 60.22p | UK stocks Penny stocks |
37 | AMZN | Amazon | 31.63% | $180.97 | US stocks Tech stocks |
38 | BP | BP | 34.52% | 454.7p | UK stocks |
39 | SHEL | Shell | 35.04% | 2782.5p | UK stocks |
40 | CCL | Carnival | 35.10% | 1221.5p | UK stocks |
41 | JD | JD Sports Fashion | 37.34% | 122.65p | UK stocks |
42 | PIXY | ShiftPixy | 38.69% | $1.5312 | US stocks |
43 | SSYS | Stratasys | 43.18% | $8.9 | US stocks Tech stocks |
44 | AV | Aviva | 43.57% | 491.2802p | UK stocks |
45 | GLEN | Glencore | 43.63% | 433.3p | UK stocks |
46 | RBLX | Roblox Corp | 56.95% | $40.575 | US stocks |
47 | XELA | Exela Technologies | 59.81% | $2.42 | US stocks |
48 | BSFC | Blue Star Foods | 68.12% | $1.9401 | US stocks |
49 | CWR | Ceres Power | 90.14% | 217.2p | UK stocks Tech stocks |
What are the best shares to buy today?
This will depend on how you prefer to invest. Are you looking to make money with a short-term trade, or do you want something to hold onto for the long run?
Looking for quality long-term investing opportunities is our preferred method here at Finder, but the best stocks for you to invest in will largely depend on what your tomorrow might look like.
Stock-picking can be quite a lengthy process involving plenty of research. If you do want somewhere to start, here are a few ways you might find the best stocks to buy:
Strategy 1: Keep an eye on investing trends
If you enjoy being an active investor and like to engage with the markets on a regular basis, keep an eye out on quality sources of information. If you’re not keeping an eye out, you might miss out on the latest movements.
However, it’s generally best to look at wider macro-economic trends when looking for the best stocks. Each day, the market can change drastically. Ideally, you should look at the bigger picture. Think about where the economy is and where it’s going, how things like interest rates and inflation, or perhaps a recession, could impact sectors.
Social media can be a useful tool to get news fast, but there’s also the risk of getting caught up in investing fads like meme stocks. No doubt a fun way to invest, but not ideal for long-term portfolio performance.
Strategy 2: Check the news
This ties into the first strategy and it is worth being aware of what’s going on in the world around you. Understanding the state of the economy will make it easier for you to find the best stocks to buy for this year and the coming years.
A key area to watch out for is making sure you don’t get consumed by the news. There is always going to be good and bad news related to the stock market. There will always be reasons not to invest. Similarly, there will always be reasons to invest.
So keep tabs on the world around you, but don’t flinch at every news story you read and start acting like Chicken Little thinking that the sky is falling.
Strategy 3: Look at expert analysis
No one knows exactly what will happen, but many of the smartest investors and analysts in the world will publicly give their opinions on stocks to buy.
You shouldn’t blindly follow what anyone says, but it can be worth leaning on some expert opinions – even if it’s just to see whether they agree or disagree with your ideas.
Lots of the best trading apps now have in-built features showing you what analysts think about the best stocks to buy and the stocks best to avoid. If you’re someone who’s still finding your feet in the market, checking what the experts have to say should leave you feeling more informed about the stocks you’re thinking about buying today.
What are the best shares to buy for beginners?
If you’re just looking to dip your toe into the choppy waters of investing, then it’s best to start off in the shallow end.
Total beginners may want to consider picking a platform which manages all the investments for you, typically called robo-advisors, or take a look at index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track broad stock markets or even the global stock market. These are considered a beginner-friendly way to start investing, as index funds and ETF investments bundle together 100s or even 1000s of stocks to help you stay diversified with a single investment.
But if you’re dead set on diving straight into the deep end, the golden rule is to not invest more than you’re willing to lose. Tread carefully and make sure that if you buy shares, you do plenty of research first because stock prices can drop or even crash to zero in extreme cases. Blue-chip stocks and stocks on stock market indices, like the FTSE 100 or S&P 500 can be good options for beginners, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely safe. And, you could still just use an index fund or ETF to invest in all the stocks on the FTSE 100 or S&P 500 instead of attempting to pick individual winners.
Remember, there are absolutely no guarantees with any stock or investing strategy. So make sure you’re doing your research into a stock, regardless of how established the company is.
What are the best cheap shares to buy now?
If you’re looking for cheap stocks, you might be looking for penny stocks. These are stocks that cost pennies to buy (like penny sweets). These are a nice way to create a well balanced and diversified pic-n-mix portfolio on a smaller budget. Penny stocks can be hit and miss — don’t assume that because a stock is cheap, it’s undervalued or that it’ll definitely grow. Some well established companies are penny stocks, such as Lloyds Bank, as well as some that might never see much growth.
We’ve created a list of penny stocks if you’re looking for some of the best cheap shares to buy now.
How to buy shares today
We’ve got an in-depth guide on how to buy shares in companies. If you want a quick overview, here’s the steps to follow if you want to buy shares right now:
- Choose a platform. Take a moment to compare, share dealing accounts to find the right one for you.
- Open your account. You’ll need your ID, bank details and national insurance number.
- Deposit your funds. You’ll need to fund your account with a bank transfer, debit card or credit card.
- Research stocks. Carry out some research using resources on your platform or use whatever method you prefer to digest information.
- Search for the stock you want to buy now: You can check out the table above for some inspiration
- Buy your chosen shares. Create an order to buy shares and choose how much you want to invest. It’s that simple.
The whole process can take as little as 15 minutes.
Platforms for buying shares
The right share dealing account for you will depend on your overarching investing strategy. If you want a quick and easy way to start, it might be worth checking out some 0% commission platforms that have no platform fee and also let you invest small amounts.
When is the best time to buy shares, now or later?
This is something that just about every investor asks at one stage. The important thing to remember is that when it comes to buying stocks, time in the market tends to be more crucial than timing the market.
There’s never a perfect time to buy shares and you want to avoid analysis paralysis where you spend all your time researching stocks and then never actually invest. The best time to buy shares will be whenever you can afford to invest with a long-term mindset.
Try to avoid simply thinking about the best shares to buy today and instead think about what shares would you be happy holding 5 or 10 years from now.
Bottom line
You’ll want to use all the resources at your disposal when researching stocks and our table covers some of the best shares to buy now, but always remember to think long term. Don’t buy shares today just because they’re popular or trending. Think about how a stock fits in with the rest of your portfolio and ideally, if this is an investment you can hold for years.
Frequently asked questions
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